WHO raises alarm over Ebola spread in DR Congo

The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo a Public Health Emergency of International Concern amid fears of wider regional transmission.

The outbreak, centred in the eastern Ituri province, has so far recorded about 246 suspected cases and 80 deaths.

Although the WHO said the situation does not yet qualify as a pandemic emergency, it warned the outbreak could become “a much larger outbreak” than currently reported.

According to the health agency, the current outbreak is linked to the Bundibugyo strain of the Ebola virus, for which there are no approved vaccines or treatments.

The WHO disclosed that eight laboratory-confirmed cases have been identified across three health zones, including Bunia, the provincial capital, and the gold-mining towns of Mongwalu and Rwampara. Authorities have also confirmed one case in Kinshasa involving a traveller returning from Ituri.

Neighbouring Uganda has also recorded two confirmed Ebola cases. Ugandan officials said a 59-year-old Congolese man who tested positive for the virus died on Thursday before his body was returned to DR Congo.

The WHO further noted that an Ebola case had been confirmed in Goma, a city currently under the control of M23 rebels.

Health officials warned that insecurity, humanitarian challenges, and frequent population movement in eastern DR Congo are increasing the danger of further transmission.

The WHO stated that the ongoing security situation and humanitarian crisis in DR Congo, combined with high population mobility, the urban location of the hotspot, and the large number of informal healthcare facilities in the region increased the risk of spread.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus cautioned that there remain “significant uncertainties to the true number of infected persons and geographic spread” of the outbreak.

The agency advised DR Congo and Uganda to establish emergency operation centres to strengthen contact tracing and infection prevention measures. It also urged neighbouring countries to intensify surveillance and health reporting systems.

However, the WHO stressed that countries outside the affected region should avoid border closures or trade restrictions, saying “such measures are usually implemented out of fear and have no basis in science”.

Ebola, first identified in DR Congo in 1976, spreads through direct contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe bleeding and organ failure. The disease has killed around 15,000 people across Africa over the past five decades.

DR Congo’s deadliest Ebola outbreak occurred between 2018 and 2020, when nearly 2,300 people died.

Source: BBC